One of those times was probably minutes after my history teacher said "go to Mexico and look at the street signs, same numbers. Go to China and look at the street signs, different letters same numbers. Go to Sweden. You have no idea what the words are but you know the numbers. Go to Japan. You are lost, nothing is familiar, you don't understand any of the words, written or spoken. You thought you knew how to kind of quietly read the nonverbal language and not be a jerk, but you will always be the jerk in Japan... bit you understand the numbers..."

I was just a typical American, selectively listened, got my diploma anyway though.

Good thread. Giving me shit to contemplate and shit.